HuskerTwinsFan

Sherry, thank you for your engaging story. I was disappointed that the link to the WCCO story didn't work. I was interested to hear the rest of the story. Maybe you can describe it here in the comments.

I'd love to see a deep dive on the transition from 2020, when the Twins, Guardians and White Sox essentially ended in a virtual tie, to 2021, when the White Sox have a 10.5 game lead on Cleveland (which is at .500) and a 19 game lead on the Twins. Isn't it fair to evaluate front offices against their competitor's results (if only for one year)? What decisions were made by the various front offices? What worked and what didn't? Which players were acquired (free agents, trades or promotions)? How did injuries and IL stints affect their performances? In particular, what changes were made to pitching staffs (starters and relievers) that made the difference? Maybe the analysis should be broken into parts--starting pitching, relief staff and position players and possibly more (initial roster formulation vs. who has actually played so far). I suspect that such an analysis could provide significant into the discussion of how the various front offices actually faired in 2021. This is far beyond my ability to do well. Is anyone game for the task?

I haven’t seen the AL tiebreaker stats recently. If I counted right, here is where every contending team stands now. Tiebreaker 1: Head to Head MN-CWS (5-5)MN-CLE (MN 7-3)TOR-NYY (6-3 TOR, 1 @ TOR)LAA-SEA (5-5)HOU-SEA (7-3 HOU)LAA-HOU (6-4 LAA)Tiebreaker 2: Intradivision Records CWS 25-14 (1 @ CLE)MN 23-17 (None left)CLE 22-17 (1 vs CWS)NYY 23-16 ( @ TOR)TOR 19-17 (1 vs NYY, 3 vs. BAL)LAA 19-21 (None left)SEA 18-18 (1 v A's, 3 @ A’s)HOU 18-18 (4 @ TX)Tiebreaker 3: Intradivision Last 20 games SEA 12-4 (1 vs A’s, 3 @ A’s)LAA 12-8 (None left)CWS 12-7 (1 @ CLE)CLE 11-8 (1 vs CWS)NYY 11-8 (1 @ TOR)MN 11-9 (None left)TOR 8-8 (1 vs NYY, 3 vs BAL)HOU 5-11 (4 @ TX)Tiebreaker 4: Add Intradivision games beyond 20 CWS 8 winsTOR 3 winsNYY 1 winMN 0 winsLAA 0 winsSEA 0 winsCLE 0 wins

A couple of thoughts that I haven't seen addressed: 1. I haven't seen any comments that imply that Big Mike doesn't have ability, especially with his performance prior to the suspension. Whether you consider him in the #2-#5 slots, he proved he can wing it effectively. 2. Pineda stated that he was trying to lose weight (he is an enormous man) and there was a comment that referred to his prior knee injury. Signing him early could possibly get him into a conditioning program under team supervision similar to Sano last year, who came to ST in much better shape. Leaving him on his own, unsigned, until near or during ST seems to be a significant disadvantage if the front office wants him. 3. Even while under suspension, I believe that he is still eligible for spring training (correct me if I'm wrong). If so, getting him in early to ST for conditioning purposes and to regain his pitching motion with coaching would seem to be important elements. 4. A comment mentioned that he can continue workouts in Ft. Meyers after ST, which could include pitching in intra-squad games, which benefits both his pitching and also batters eventually headed to minor league or short season teams. All of that argues to me that a relatively early signing (of whatever amount, years or terms) would be a good call.

Update to my ridiculously premature story. The date was 6/25/2013. Polanco had a bases-clearing triple in the 7th. Kepler did, in fact hit his first home run of the year that turned out to be the game-winner in the 8th (as well as an earlier double). As if you care, here is the game story. http://www.milb.com/kernels/news/kepler--polanco-bring-kernels-back-to-beat-bees-6-4/c-51712432 Polanco was Twins MiLB player of the week. I'm just trying to figure out how this posting stuff works.

If you want to see Lewis play in CR, get your tickets very early in the season. I bought tix to go see Byron Buxton play in CR in May, 2013 (as I recall). I jumped in the car, tickets held close to my breast with my wife in the (other) bucket seat to my right. We motored the few hours from the Twin Cities down to CR to check into the hotel, excited as hell. Well, turning on the news (with an adult beverage in my hand), I was informed that BB was promoted to Ft. Myers on that very day, and the resale value of my cherished premium Kernel Tickets had plummeted. The good news was we saw a VERY entertaining game, in which the CRKs did nothing for several innings, falling behind, only to win in the late innings when some kid from Germany who had been injured and came off the disabled list the day before hit a home run. Some of you may have heard of him. Keplinger or something like that. And that was after some Polanco guy had line driven himself on base. Fast dude. It might have been a walk-off home run. Oh, I DID purchase a Bryon Buxton Cedar Rapids Kernels T-Shirt for a mere $18 the next day (yeah, NOT on sale but limited quantities, and in my size). And NO, I will NOT sell it to you but when you see me at Target Field, you'll probably guess it was I who told this story. Best of luck to the Kernels this year, whomever they may be! (All events depicted are, well, reasonably well recalled. Memos on inaccuracies may be sent to ....um, what IS my darned email addy, anyway?)

Being a Twins fan but an inveterate reader of TD, I take this call to arms seriously. Unfortunately, I am not at all SABR-knowledgeable but, as a statistics lover, I'd enjoy learning what the terms mean to better informed and to know where to learn more. I've read posts in all categories on this site and usually don't even sign in, much less comment. But I've considered it often. The comments do draw a line of demarcation between deeply researched and "what your eye tells you" articles and blogs. Some absorb the former, others only the latter, and some suck it all up. For the more casual fan who is stat-capable but merely uninformed, does it make any sense to provide a link to a page at BR or another site with definitions and an idea of what is a good, bad or indifferent performance metric? I find the analysis fascinating but not always understandable. My life would be much less fulfilled without TD. I appreciate those who take the time to inform and provide us with their humor. At this point, I've never considered whether I have a voice worth listening to, but I can probably fool myself into believing so until I'm told otherwise. Well, with all good intentions...we'll see.